Nestea®


  • Nestea is an ingenious combination of the first syllable of the company name Nestlé (after company founder Henrí Nestlé) and the word tea. The German word nestle means little nest, and the Nestlé logo was inspired from this meaning.

  • In 1867, amid public concern over infant mortality, Henrí Nestlé of Vevey, Switzerland, developed Farine Lactee, an infant formula made from concentrated milk, sugar, and cereal. Eight years later Nestlé sold his company—then doing business in 16 countries—for one million francs.

  • In 1938, Nestlé, then doing business with Brazilian coffee growers, introduced Nescafe instant coffee, which was distributed to American troops during World War II. That same year Nestlé introduced the Nestlé Crunch bar, followed by Nestlé Quik drink mix in 1948, and Taster's Choice coffee in 1966.

  • The concept of iced tea, first introduced at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair by a merchant trying to sell warm tea on a hot summer day (by simply pouring the tepid brew over ice), did not become popular until 1948 when Nestlé scientists introduced Nestea hot tea mix.

  • In 1956 Nestlé scientists introduced Nestea iced tea mix, the first 100 percent instant tea soluble in both hot and cold water, popularized in television commercials with the slogan "Take the Nestea Plunge."

  • Today, Nestlé is the largest packaged food manufacturer, coffee roaster, and chocolate maker in the world, operating 438 factories in 63 countries.

  • Nestlé is the largest company in Switzerland, yet more than 98 percent of its revenue comes from outside the country.

  • While tea is the world's most popular beverage, Americans consumer more than 80 percent of their tea iced.

  • The Tea Council of the United States has designated June "National Ice Tea Month."